I just read, in rapid succession: The Light Pirate, The Ferryman, and How High We Go in the Dark. While they all represent a bleak picture of the devastating effects of climate change, I found them galvanizing and hopeful and they were all so so so good. I also enjoyed Yellowface for a nice reprieve from near future speculative fiction.
Have you read any Charlotte mcconaghy? She’s my favorite modern fiction with a climate edge writer. Once there were wolves was amazing and migrations is great too!
Whew, The Light Pirate was a hard, hopeful read and so so so good. I had How High We Go in the Dark checked out next, but found I needed a break from the genre!
I just read Her Good Side, a YA romance by Rebekah Weatherspoon (who usually writes adult romance). Tons of fun for me and I'm getting it for my nieces and recommended it to my best friend for her daughter.
I'm listening to I Contain Multitudes (Ed Yong) and am reading one poem before bed each night from She Had Some Horses (Joy Harjo). Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) is next on my list, I think! Though I might get distracted by some of the recommendations here, haha
A friend just gifted me “Conversations on Love” by Natasha Lunn and it is the perfect nightstand/bubble bath read. So smart and so comforting and sweet at the same time. (My husband has been assigned to read “Fat Talk” first, because I’m committed to sharing that particular parental mental load!)
I’m in grad school so have kept most of my personal reading to fiction that’s easy to get in to. Some favs so far this year:
- The dead romantics by Ashley poston (romcom vibes with a very quirky twist - I loved it)
- Other birds by Sarah Addison Allen (multi-perspective saga with lots of family and home elements, plus a touch of magical realism without being super out there.)
- The bullet that missed by Richard osman (third book in the Thursday murder club series which is a group of retirees in England who solve crimes. It is so smart and funny and I’ve loved every book in the series!)
- The violin conspiracy by brendan slocumb (mystery that deals with fame, family, race. I play violin and the musical details are extra fun if you have some musical background)
- Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (you didn’t know you wanted a book with an octopus as a main character, but I promise you do. Really lovely book about multiple characters journeys to find themselves)
For nonfiction I recommend reading “share your stuff. I’ll go first” by Laura tremaine and preferably with a friend or two so you can share the stories it stirs up!
I just started the second Stacy Abrams thriller book, Rogue Justice. Her knowledge of ... everything? ... blows me away. I also just ripped through Suzanne Collins' "Gregor the Overlander" series "to screen it for my 10yo niece" but really because I couldn't stop after the first one!
I just read I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai - so, so good! Currently reading Small World by Laura Zigman and am so engrossed. Also reading We're Not Broken by Eric Garcia. And of course also Fat Talk (but how to get the husband to read it?!).
Currently I’m reading We’re All The Same In The Dark by Julia Heaberlin. It’s got me hooked. Two recent reads that I really enjoyed were The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E Smith and The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.
April and May were big reading months for me, and since Memorial Day weekend I've found less time to sneak reading in. Like you, Melinda, I like to have several going at once. Currently I'm reading Sally Hepworth's The Good Sister and Maggie Smith's You Could Make This Place Beautiful. I most recently finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Simone St. James's The Broken Girls, and J. Ryan Stradal's Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Everything's been very readable, nothing has been particularly special until I started You Could Make This Place Beautiful, which is living up to the hype.
It feels a bit strange to really like a memoir about divorce, but You Could Make This Place Beautiful was SO good. I thought the structure for it was captivating, too.
I'm a huge nonfiction lover, and my favorites of the past few months are Quit by Annie Duke (rebranding quitting--brilliant!) and The Expectation Effect by David Robson. Both are story and data filled and totally transformative.
I interviewed Annie for the Times about her book and she was awesome. I haven't read it yet but I'm planning to! I'll add The Expectation Effect to my list too!! Thanks!
Isn't she the greatest (we had her on our pod)? I'll be curious to hear what you think of The Expectation Effect. Love this thread as I get stuck in my book habits so I'm getting all sorts of inspired here. Thank you, Melinda!
You Could Make this Place Beautiful is a beautiful memoir about marriage, divorce, creativity, and parenting from poet Maggie Smith. The Writing Retreat from Julia Bartz might be a fun one to scratch that thriller itch.
Ooooh, book talk! Most recently I've really enjoyed Happy Place by Emily Henry (have liked all of hers, with last year's Book Lovers as my favorite), Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, and Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan (that one is a second-chance romance). I just started Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club so I'm happy to see it on someone else's list!
Ooooh! Yes Happy Place was so lovely! (And Book Lovers is also my favorite of hers.) Before I Let Go was gorgeous. Would be interested to know your thoughts on Lakeside Supper Club, just finished that one myself.
I see "American Spy" on your shelf - it's really good! Not a typical thriller but no less intriguing. I recently read "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld and ate it up - it's a great beach read that's not overly fluffy. She is so clever!
I just read, in rapid succession: The Light Pirate, The Ferryman, and How High We Go in the Dark. While they all represent a bleak picture of the devastating effects of climate change, I found them galvanizing and hopeful and they were all so so so good. I also enjoyed Yellowface for a nice reprieve from near future speculative fiction.
Have you read any Charlotte mcconaghy? She’s my favorite modern fiction with a climate edge writer. Once there were wolves was amazing and migrations is great too!
Whew, The Light Pirate was a hard, hopeful read and so so so good. I had How High We Go in the Dark checked out next, but found I needed a break from the genre!
Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time by Sheila Liming.
I just read Her Good Side, a YA romance by Rebekah Weatherspoon (who usually writes adult romance). Tons of fun for me and I'm getting it for my nieces and recommended it to my best friend for her daughter.
I am reading Fat Talk by substack author Virginia Sole Smith and Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose (excited to interview her)!
Both so good!!!
I'm listening to I Contain Multitudes (Ed Yong) and am reading one poem before bed each night from She Had Some Horses (Joy Harjo). Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) is next on my list, I think! Though I might get distracted by some of the recommendations here, haha
A friend just gifted me “Conversations on Love” by Natasha Lunn and it is the perfect nightstand/bubble bath read. So smart and so comforting and sweet at the same time. (My husband has been assigned to read “Fat Talk” first, because I’m committed to sharing that particular parental mental load!)
Fat Talk is so good!!! I’ll check out Conversations on Love!
I’m in grad school so have kept most of my personal reading to fiction that’s easy to get in to. Some favs so far this year:
- The dead romantics by Ashley poston (romcom vibes with a very quirky twist - I loved it)
- Other birds by Sarah Addison Allen (multi-perspective saga with lots of family and home elements, plus a touch of magical realism without being super out there.)
- The bullet that missed by Richard osman (third book in the Thursday murder club series which is a group of retirees in England who solve crimes. It is so smart and funny and I’ve loved every book in the series!)
- The violin conspiracy by brendan slocumb (mystery that deals with fame, family, race. I play violin and the musical details are extra fun if you have some musical background)
- Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (you didn’t know you wanted a book with an octopus as a main character, but I promise you do. Really lovely book about multiple characters journeys to find themselves)
For nonfiction I recommend reading “share your stuff. I’ll go first” by Laura tremaine and preferably with a friend or two so you can share the stories it stirs up!
I love those old folks in The Thursday Murder Club!
ME TOO!!!!
I may have to read that!
I love “whodunnit” stories but don’t love gore/horror/super creepy stuff that keeps me awake at night, and these are the PERFECT books for that!
That is my preference as well!
They’re just the best!
I just started the second Stacy Abrams thriller book, Rogue Justice. Her knowledge of ... everything? ... blows me away. I also just ripped through Suzanne Collins' "Gregor the Overlander" series "to screen it for my 10yo niece" but really because I couldn't stop after the first one!
Oh! I read the Gregor books with my son! So good.
I just read I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai - so, so good! Currently reading Small World by Laura Zigman and am so engrossed. Also reading We're Not Broken by Eric Garcia. And of course also Fat Talk (but how to get the husband to read it?!).
Have you read The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai? I like it even more than Questions.
Yep! Loved it!!
Loved The Great Believers!
Currently I’m reading We’re All The Same In The Dark by Julia Heaberlin. It’s got me hooked. Two recent reads that I really enjoyed were The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E Smith and The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.
I just started An Immense World by Ed Yong, and I'm also at the beginning of Gunfight by Ryan Busse.
Oh I’m about to begin An Immense World. We have a new puppy, and it came highly recommended for pet owners.
April and May were big reading months for me, and since Memorial Day weekend I've found less time to sneak reading in. Like you, Melinda, I like to have several going at once. Currently I'm reading Sally Hepworth's The Good Sister and Maggie Smith's You Could Make This Place Beautiful. I most recently finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Simone St. James's The Broken Girls, and J. Ryan Stradal's Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Everything's been very readable, nothing has been particularly special until I started You Could Make This Place Beautiful, which is living up to the hype.
It feels a bit strange to really like a memoir about divorce, but You Could Make This Place Beautiful was SO good. I thought the structure for it was captivating, too.
I loved how Maggie Smith arranged her memoir. It made it immensely readable.
Just added Maggie Smith's book to my list - thank you!
I'm a huge nonfiction lover, and my favorites of the past few months are Quit by Annie Duke (rebranding quitting--brilliant!) and The Expectation Effect by David Robson. Both are story and data filled and totally transformative.
I interviewed Annie for the Times about her book and she was awesome. I haven't read it yet but I'm planning to! I'll add The Expectation Effect to my list too!! Thanks!
Isn't she the greatest (we had her on our pod)? I'll be curious to hear what you think of The Expectation Effect. Love this thread as I get stuck in my book habits so I'm getting all sorts of inspired here. Thank you, Melinda!
You Could Make this Place Beautiful is a beautiful memoir about marriage, divorce, creativity, and parenting from poet Maggie Smith. The Writing Retreat from Julia Bartz might be a fun one to scratch that thriller itch.
ha, I have The Writing Retreat on my library queue! And I just added You Could Make This Place Beautiful :)
Ooooh, book talk! Most recently I've really enjoyed Happy Place by Emily Henry (have liked all of hers, with last year's Book Lovers as my favorite), Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, and Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan (that one is a second-chance romance). I just started Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club so I'm happy to see it on someone else's list!
Loved Book Lovers as well!!! Romantic Comedy is sitting in my TBR pile right now and I'm looking forward to it. I loved Eligible and Prep.
Ooooh! Yes Happy Place was so lovely! (And Book Lovers is also my favorite of hers.) Before I Let Go was gorgeous. Would be interested to know your thoughts on Lakeside Supper Club, just finished that one myself.
I see "American Spy" on your shelf - it's really good! Not a typical thriller but no less intriguing. I recently read "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld and ate it up - it's a great beach read that's not overly fluffy. She is so clever!